Carpenter hurls best Cardinal start of season
Chris Carpenter struck out 11 of the 29 batters he faced to help the Cardinals win their critical series against the Reds and shave off a game in the standings. He came up big when the team needed a hoss-like start — so big, it was the seventh-best start by Fielding-Independent Game Score of his decorated career:
| Rk | Date | Team | Opp | IP | BB | SO | HR | BF | FIGS |
| 1 | 6/25/2005 | STL | PIT | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 29 | 80 |
| 2 | 5/25/2009 | STL | MIL | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 25 | 79 |
| 3 | 9/4/2001 | TOR | NYY | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 33 | 78 |
| 4 | 7/17/2005 | STL | HOU | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 28 | 77 |
| 5 | 4/5/2001 | TOR | TBD | 8 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 27 | 76 |
| 5 | 6/14/2005 | STL | TOR | 9 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 28 | 76 |
| 7 | 9/5/2010 | STL | CIN | 7 1/3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 29 | 75 |
| 8 | 9/7/2009 | STL | MIL | 9 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 29 | 72 |
| 8 | 8/12/2009 | STL | CIN | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 29 | 72 |
| 8 | 7/16/1998 | TOR | CHW | 8 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 29 | 72 |
| 8 | 9/1/2006 | STL | PIT | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 72 |
| 8 | 7/5/2004 | STL | CIN | 7 1/3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 72 |
| 8 | 7/14/2006 | STL | LAD | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 72 |
For the 2010 Cardinals, it was the best start of the season:
| Rk | Pitcher | Date | Opp | IP | BB | SO | HR | BF | FIGS |
| 1 | Chris Carpenter | 9/5/2010 | CIN | 7 1/3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 29 | 75 |
| 2 | Kyle Lohse | 5/1/2010 | CIN | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 71 |
| 2 | Jaime Garcia | 8/22/2010 | SFG | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 71 |
| 4 | Adam Wainwright | 6/4/2010 | MIL | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 70 |
| 5 | Chris Carpenter | 5/7/2010 | PIT | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28 | 69 |
| 6 | Chris Carpenter | 4/21/2010 | ARI | 7 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 27 | 68 |
| 7 | Adam Wainwright | 7/22/2010 | PHI | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 23 | 67 |
| 8 | Adam Wainwright | 4/12/2010 | HOU | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 66 |
| 8 | Brad Penny | 4/14/2010 | HOU | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 66 |
| 8 | Adam Wainwright | 4/18/2010 | NYM | 9 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 33 | 66 |
| 8 | Jeff Suppan | 7/31/2010 | PIT | 5 1/3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 66 |
| 8 | Adam Wainwright | 8/18/2010 | MIL | 7 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 26 | 66 |
Curiously, although Carpenter has posted the top overall and three of the top six games by FIGS, he is only fifth in average FIGS among Cardinal starters on the season:
| Pitcher | Avg FIGS |
| Wainwright | 55.1 |
| Penny | 51.8 |
| Garcia | 51.4 |
| Westbrook | 50.4 |
| Carpenter | 49.8 |
| Lohse | 44.9 |
| Hawksworth | 41.0 |
| Suppan | 38.7 |
| Walters | 35.5 |
| Ottavino | 32.0 |
And the list also may indicate why Kyle Lohse will start Tuesday in the second game of the Brewers series. After Jeff Suppan’s latest, 30-FIGS outing in Houston, Lohse represents the lesser of two evils. With the second-best start of the season, though, Lohse can perhaps make like Carpenter and toss another beauty in crunchtime.